Institute for Justice

Bone Marrow Statistics

Share

Article | Institute for Justice

This year, more than 130,000 Americans will be diagnosed with a serious blood disease.

Leukemia (a blood cancer) will strike 44,000 Americans this year, including 3,500 children. It will kill about half of the adults and about 700 of the children.

Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer.

Only 30 percent of patients who need a bone marrow transplant have a matching donor in their families.

The remaining 70 percent must hope that a compatible stranger can be found using the national registry.

At any given time, about 7,500 Americans are actively searching the national registry for an unrelated donor.

Only 2 percent of population is on the national registry.

A significant number of those on the national bone marrow registry cannot be located or will not donate when asked to do so. The percentages of donors who are available and willing are: 65 for Caucasians; 47 percent for Hispanics; 44 percent for Asians; 34 percent for African-Americans.